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Swiss Post is committed to the basic service in payment transactions. This could soon look different.
Swiss Post is obliged to make payment services possible for people throughout Switzerland: with the universal service. The Federal Council has clarified what a modernized form should look like.
The question is to what extent we want to continue to afford this.
What happens next is primarily a question of costs, says Christian Levrat, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Swiss Post, in “Eco Talk”. Today, Swiss Post not only supplies 90 percent, as required by law, but even 98 percent of the population with cash payments.
In addition to the 800 post offices, there are also postmen in thousands of places, with delivery staff even “in the back of the village,” says Levrat. “The question is to what extent we want to continue to afford it.”
Competition positions itself
The basic service in payment transactions does not necessarily have to remain with Swiss Post. Raiffeisenbank entered the race last week. “We have clearly signaled that we would take part in this discussion because we have a lot of experience and know-how in this area,” says Heinz Huber, CEO of Raiffeisen, to SRF.
The background: In June 2022, the Federal Council commissioned clarification on what a modernized form of the basic service mandate for postal and payment services should look like. It also needs to be clarified whether there is a need for a digital public service. “Once that has been clarified, the contract could also be put out to tender publicly,” says Huber. After that, his bank will check whether they will take part in the application.
You could also advertise the job publicly.
With more than 800 locations, Raiffeisen has a large bank branch network and hopes to attract more customers through the basic service in payment transactions.
«We are interested in the customers. We offer banking services. Across Switzerland, almost 40 percent of the population are customers of Raiffeisen. I think that’s a good starting point for such a service,” says Huber.
Criticism of the credit and mortgage ban
When asked about the competition, Christian Levrat mentions another topic that worries him: the ban on loans and mortgages for Postfinance, a subsidiary of the Post. This is why it is not allowed to grant any loans itself.
The Postfinance does a 100 meter sprint on one leg.
“Postfinance does a 100-meter run on one leg,” says Levrat. The institute should not make the money it manages available to the Swiss economy. “That seems a bit absurd.” In addition, stricter own funds regulations apply to Postfinance.
Raiffeisen boss Heinz Huber said in an interview with CH Media that politicians would not want to strengthen Postfinance. “The competition is already working extremely well. We don’t need another state institute that grants loans.”